13) Badlands National Park, September 10 - September 16, 2009

On the way from Voyageurs to Badlands, we had several other adventures; we visited the headwaters of the Mississippi, strolled down memory lane in some of JEK’s old stomping grounds in South Dakota, and visited some other places of interest along our route.

Our first night out from Voyageurs we stopped at Itasca State Park near Park Rapids, Minnesota. This state park is the home of the headwaters of the Mississippi River. They don’t follow or select one of the feeder streams into Lake Itasca, but the outflow of the lake is designated as the beginning of our great national treasure of a river, the Mighty Mississippi. Here, you can easily walk across the Mississippi on a log and clearly see the bottom. Neither of those feats is easily accomplished down in our area of the country. We got to the park too late in the evening to get into the Mary Gibb Mississippi Headwater Center, but the grounds and trails to the headwaters were open, and we were the only vehicle in the parking lot and the only people on the trails. There were some outdoor exhibits at the Center, some of which we were able to peruse before it was too dark.

The Beginning of the Mississippi River

Next, it was on to South Dakota. Not only home of the Badlands National Park, but JEK’s birthplace and the location of most of his summer vacations during his early years. From Itasca, we went through Fargo, ND (Now JEK has been to all of the lower 48 states. Funny that the last one is adjacent to his birth state.) for normal maintenance on the truck, then on toward Garretson, SD where JEK spent so many summers visiting cousins and grandparents. It’s a long ways from Fargo to Garretson, so we decided to stop for the night in Watertown, SD, where JEK and his younger brother were born. We set up camp at Pelican Lake State Recreational Area, just outside of town and went to see if we could find the hospital where JEK was born and the house where his family lived. Of course, we hadn’t done the necessary research before leaving home, so we did not have addresses. We were pretty sure that we were in the correct area, finding an elementary school not too far from the hospital and other features that seemed familiar. We called Barry, JEK’s brother and by early the next morning he had found the address of the house—aren’t cell phones great? We went back to town and had no trouble finding the house. Sure enough, it was across the street from the elementary school that we had gone to the day before. Both the hospital and the elementary school are younger looking than either Barry or JEK, so we think they rebuilt on the same land.

Johnny's First Home

After a bit more touring around Watertown, we headed out for tiny Garretson (population about 800 back in the day, now about 1200). When we pulled into Palisades State Park just on the edge of Garretson, we found that it was FULL!! This was our first “no room in the inn experience” since we started on this trip and it was in Garretson, SD. Go figure. There was never any tourism in Garretson. The other nearby state park was also full. We found a spot in the city park campground and set up. We then drove into town to see if we could locate JEK’s aunt and uncle’s old house. Neighbors across the street confirmed the house Johnny seemed to remember as his aunt and uncle’s and said that JEK’s cousin, Bruce, was just three doors down the street. We had a nice visit with Bruce and his grandsons that evening.

The next day, we toured through Devil’s Gulch and found the house that JEK’s grandparents retired to in Garretson upon leaving the farm just across the state line in MN. We failed to find the farm, however. Oh well, next time. After breaking camp, we headed to Mitchell, SD for the famous Corn Palace. Coincidently, Mitchell is where Barry and JEK’s older brother was born. Very interesting to see the murals both inside and outside of the building made entirely of ears corn of many colors and a few grasses and grains of SD. The theme, this year, for the outside murals was “America’s Destinations”.

The Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota

After seeing the Corn Palace, it was a short drive to Badlands National Park. We set up camp at the Cedar Pass Campground in the park and went out to do some hiking. We hiked Cliff Shelf Trail, Notch Trail (see picture of ladder you must climb on Notch Trail below), Window Trail, and Door Trail - all together about 2.5 miles - and still had time to drive up to world famous Wall Drugs. We took part of the park loop drive on the way back from Wall Drugs and made several of the stops and overlooks along the way before it got too dark. The campground evening program was on astronomy, and the very dark skies of the Badlands provided a clear view of the Milky Way and even the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. Telescopes were also available for some closer views.

View from Burns Basin Overlook on Loop Drive

I Can't Believe I Climbed the Whole Thing!

Notch Trail

Yellow Mounds on Loop Drive

The next day, we finished the loop road and took one of the “high-clearance vehicle only” dirt roads out to some wonderful scenery at Sheep Mountain Table. The Indian-run White River Visitor Center was closed when we got there, a day earlier than the literature indicated. We got to see some buffalo (I know, they’re really bison) and prairie dogs along the way. We also got in two ranger talks, one on park geology and the other on fossils. The evening campground program provided some insight on the cultural history of the park and surrounding area.

The Pinnacles as Seen from Sheep Mountain Table

The next day it was on to the southwest corner of South Dakota and what turned out to be a surprising array of interesting things to see and do, including our next national park; Wind Cave.